Davidson County chancellor rules South Nashville students to remain zoned to attend LEAD Cameron Middle School

Exterior of LEAD Cameron Middle School (Photo by Sky Arnold)

Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles ruled Friday that it’s in the best interest of South Nashville students to continue having LEAD Cameron Middle School as their zoned school during the 2025/2026 school year.

Myles granted LEAD Public Schools’ request to temporarily halt a controversial school rezoning plan approved by the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education last November that would have diverted children from attending LEAD Cameron as they have been without applying first. Unlike every other public charter school in Nashville, LEAD Cameron has operated essentially like a regular zoned school that children who live nearby attend.

Under the rezoning plan, students currently zoned for LEAD Cameron would instead be zoned for the district run Margaret Allen Middle School. LEAD Public Schools is currently challenging the plan in court and Chancellor Myles’ ruling allows that legal process to proceed without the zoning plan going into effect.

“The court’s decision affirms LEAD’s position that the rezoning plan was not only in breach of our charter agreement, but also not in the best interest of LEAD Cameron students and families,” wrote LEAD in a statement to the Tennessee Firefly following the ruling. “This decision protects the stability of our LEAD Cameron community and ensures that our students can continue to thrive in the supportive and high-quality learning environment they deserve. We pursued this legal action because we believed the proposed rezoning would have negatively impacted our students, and we are thankful that the court recognized the validity of our concerns and provided a temporary block to MNPS’ rezoning decision until a final, permanent decision can be made. High-quality public schools are important for all communities, and we look forward to continuing to provide an excellent middle school option to families living in the Cameron community.”

Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles (center) presiding over the LEAD case (Photo by Sky Arnold)

LEAD Public Schools took over operation of the then “Cameron Middle School” from MNPS in 2010 following years of poor academic results. The new LEAD Cameron was the first turnaround school in Tennessee, and by agreement, served as the zoned school that elementary students attending Fall-Hamilton, Glenview, and John B. Whitsitt in the Glencliff school cluster fed into when they advanced to middle school.

Since then, LEAD Cameron has achieved the state’s highest rating for growth (Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System Level 5) each school year with the exception of 2020-21, and outperformed Margaret Allen the Glencliff cluster’s other middle school in every subject on recent state tests.

Amy Mohan speaking in Davidson County Chancery Court (Photo by Sky Arnold)

LEAD attorney Amy Mohan argued in court that the rezoning plan is not only bad for LEAD Cameron’s families, she said it violates LEAD’s agreement with the district and would lead to a reduction in the school’s enrollment by 400 students. LEAD says 80 percent of the LEAD Cameron’s students are zoned to attend it, and a large percentage of them are English language learners. The charter operator worries the application process that would be required under the rezoning plan may be a challenge for those immigrant families.

“If Cameron is not a zoned enrolled school LEAD can no longer count on that 80 percent of guaranteed zoned enrollment,” said Mohan.  “It would have a devastating impact on LEAD and potentially lead to closure.”

The agreement itself is a matter of contention between the district and LEAD.

Although the initial charter set LEAD Cameron as a zoned school more than a decade ago, the renewal agreement approved in 2021 has no mention of a “zoned designation.”

The school district has continued to refer to the school as a “zoned school” on its website ever since, but MNPS attorney Allen Smith says the lack of “zoned designation” language in the new agreement allows the district to make zoning changes.

“The fact of the matter is, is that the clear and plain language of the contract now relegates them to be like their other (charter) schools, to a choice school,” said Smith.

LEAD’s attorneys argue the enrollment component of the school’s renewal agreement itself is entirely based on the school remaining a zoned school.